I'm already a Great Luo Golden Immortal, how come you're only Martial Saints?

The turmoil at Zhongnan Mountain finally came to an end. The Green Ox, acting on Laozi's orders, averted numerous crises and vanished into the sky.

Ning Chen watched the green ox depart, but suddenly felt something, huh?

Why did the Green Ox God suddenly become rounder, like a balloon being blown up?

Upon closer inspection, it seems to have returned to normal.

Ning Chen chuckled to himself, "It must be light refraction."

The somber atmosphere at Louguantai dissipated, and the numerous Divine Realm cultivators surrounded the departed old Taoist priest, their hearts filled with a mix of emotions!

Although they didn't actually participate in the battle, they felt physically and mentally exhausted.

Ning Chen's gaze swept across the ancestral temple, but he caught a glimpse of a solitary figure at the edge of the golden glow. It was none other than the Third Prince Nezha!

Nezha did not leave with the 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals, but sat alone on Laozi's preaching platform.

He had long since shed his ferocious, three-headed, six-armed form, reverting to his youthful appearance. Red ribbons hung down, the Universe Ring dimmed, and the Fire-Tipped Spear lay scattered around him, making him appear like an ordinary soldier…

The mountain wind ruffled the stray hairs on Nezha's forehead, but it couldn't dispel the desolate feeling that naturally emanated from his figure.

Ning Chen understood that after this battle, the father-son relationship between Nezha and Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, would be completely severed, and they would become like strangers.

When Nezha returned to Heaven, the two met again, but their relationship was merely that of colleagues.

And Nezha's mother, Lady Yin, is also a wound in his heart that will never heal.

His mother, who used to call him "Zha'er" so gently, did not enter the cycle of reincarnation after her soul died, and became the Bed Goddess.

Even the all-powerful God of the Three Altars and the Seas could only watch helplessly as his mother rediscovered her wisdom from a hundred lifetimes and respectfully but distantly addressed him as "God of the Three Altars and the Seas"!

Those respectful titles were like icy needles, piercing his lotus-like heart until it bled.

As for his two elder brothers, Jinzha and Muzha, they both serve in the Western Spirit Mountain and have their own responsibilities. They cannot leave without permission, so they have long since drifted apart and their relationship has become increasingly distant!

In this vast world, the once mighty War Immortal, renowned throughout the Three Realms, seems to have nowhere to go.

Nezha looked up at the clear yet cold sky, his eyes filled with endless confusion. He had won this battle, but he had lost the battle thousands of years ago completely, and there was no chance of turning the tide!

Just then, a small figure approached.

Qing'er hugged Nezha tightly with her tender little arms, pressed herself against him, and tilted her delicate, porcelain-like face up. Her pale blue eyes were clear and full of pure gratitude.

"Brother Nezha, thank you for saving Qing'er. Without you, I'm afraid I would never have seen my mother again in this life!"

That one call of "Brother Nezha" gently touched the frozen lake of the young man's heart.

Nezha trembled slightly, looking down at the little figure beside him whose fate was equally unfortunate, yet who was a bit luckier than himself.

She still had hope: her mother had been granted a title by the Heavenly Court and was entitled to receive offerings; perhaps one day she would appear, hold her, and call her Qing'er again.

Although his past cannot be changed, he at least changed the girl's future.

Thinking of this, Nezha's mood improved slightly. He bent down, picked up Qing'er, and affectionately stroked her delicate nose.

"Little girl, from now on, you are my sister, Nezha's sister. Remember, in the future, in this Three Realms, if anyone dares to bully you even slightly, just shout 'Brother Nezha!' No matter who they are, your brother's Fire-Tipped Spear will surely pierce them through!"

Nezha's words were clear and bright, carrying the unique spirit and sharpness of youth.

"I don't want Brother Nezha to fight for Qing'er, I just want Brother to come and see me more often!"

Qing'er hugged Nezha tightly, and Nezha was also moved by Qing'er's pure intentions, and smiled.

Ning Chen watched this scene quietly from the side, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Who would have thought that Qing'er, a little girl who almost lost her life due to mixed bloodlines, would turn misfortune into blessing and gain such extraordinary connections?

Her biological father was Zhang Tianshi, who held a prestigious position and was in charge of the Celestial Master's Mansion!

Standing behind him was the Azure Ox God, the mount of the Supreme Dao Ancestor.

Now, he has even recognized this incredibly powerful and unruly Three Altars Sea God as his god-brother.

This turn of events is truly a case of fortune and misfortune intertwined, with the worst turning into the best, a mystery difficult to describe.

Could it be that Qing'er is the chosen one of this great calamity?

As the dust settled, everyone bid each other farewell.

Ning Chen, Sun Wukong, Senior Brother Dayan, along with six other senior brothers of the Guang generation, each used their own methods to quietly return to the Xieyue Sanxing Cave on Lingtai Fangcun Mountain.

As the group entered Fangcun Mountain, layers upon layers of clouds and mist rolled up, completely obscuring their figures.

A black slender dog leaped out of the void, raised its hind leg, urinated on a blue stone at the foot of the mountain, and then proudly disappeared into the void!

The corners of the Celestial Dog's mouth curled up high.

Hmph, the person I, the Howling Heaven God, want to track down will escape in vain, no matter where they run!

Wang!

Once the owner is done with his work, he'll ransack your house!

In the heavenly court, the all-seeing and all-hearing beings reported to Venus.

"Reporting to the Venerable Taibai, that Daoist Ning and that demon monkey have hidden themselves in a great mountain in Xiniu Hezhou, and we can no longer track them down!"

Venus stroked his long beard and nodded.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you both for continuing the surveillance!"

Although Qing'er's matter has ended, Ning Chen's extraordinary strategy and the demon monkey's extraordinary combat power have long been noticed by some people with ulterior motives!

Bodhi Patriarch sat upright in his cave, looked up at the heavens, and sighed softly.

"I'm afraid my peaceful days won't last much longer!"

.......

As soon as he returned to Fangcun Mountain, Ning Chen felt the omnipresent Daoist aura of his patriarch, which completely soothed his tense heartstrings.

He returned to his hut, but instead of meditating and practicing his breathing exercises as usual, he went straight to sleep.

He slept soundly, completely washing away the fatigue from the fierce battle and the planning.

The next morning, as dawn broke, the mountain mists had not yet dissipated.

As usual, Ning Chen walked alone through the morning dew towards the highest peak of Fangcun Mountain, the Star Gazing Cliff. He sat cross-legged on the mountaintop, inhaling and exhaling the purple aura of the rising sun!

Suddenly, he felt something in his heart, and his soul merged with the mountains, rivers, heaven and earth and all things, and he sat there motionless!

I sat there for more than half a year!

Sun Wukong came up the mountain several times to look for him, only to find Ning Chen sitting cross-legged on the edge of the cliff, facing east, like an old monk in meditation, his breathing long and shallow, with a faint smile on his face.

Ning Chen seemed to blend into the mountain wind. At first, the monkey didn't think much of it, assuming that his junior brother was meditating.

However, as the sun rose and set, and the seasons changed, Sun Wukong went to Ning Chen's place several times, but Ning Chen always maintained the same posture.

When the wind and rain came, he remained as still as a mountain; when the frost and snow fell, a warmth emanated from him, dispelling the bitter cold.

What made the monkey's eyes widen even more was that several tender green shoots were peeking out from under the junior brother's hair and fingernails!

As the green grass grew more and more abundant, Ning Chen's posture became even more natural, as if he himself were a weathered rock on this cliff.

"Oh no! Junior brother's probably petrified!"

Sun Wukong was extremely anxious, scratching his ears and cheeks, and in one somersault he arrived at the entrance of the Ancestral Master's cave.

The monkey disregarded etiquette and knocked on the door repeatedly, speaking urgently.

"Master! Master! Quickly go and see Junior Brother Wuchen! He's been sitting on the mountaintop for who knows how long, and grass has even grown on his body! Could it be, could it be that his cultivation has gone wrong and he's about to turn into stone?"

"My junior brother isn't like me, he wasn't born from a stone. If he were petrified, would he even survive?"